1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to e-commerce and, more particularly, to a more secure method and system for authenticating a user prior to entering the global Internet marketplace and enabling a financial transaction. The system combines an Internet-unique financial card with an electronic card reading device that communicates with a user's computer, and decentralizes each card owner's personal security data to thereby reduce the likelihood and extent of criminal e-commerce fraud and theft.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Traditional financial cards (e.g., credit cards and debit cards) were developed, introduced, and utilized in the 1920s, long before the advent of the global computer network known as the Internet and the resultant e-commerce marketplace system. The inclusion of particular personal identification information of financial card owners on traditional financial cards, such as unique identification numbers and information related to the card issuer, stem from their evolving origins as financial instruments that were intended to primarily serve face-to-face business transactions. Traditional financial cards have further evolved to include an embedded magnetic strip to retain and transfer personal and business data, including the card owner's financial account number and full name, the expiration date, and other discretionary date, through suitable reading/transmission devices, which electronically support, validate, and serve financial transactions. Traditional financial cards are currently used in conjunction with the global Internet marketplace, and serve as a primary method of making financial transactions using one's personal computer.
Criminal e-commerce fraud and theft is an ongoing problem hindering the advancement of the global Internet marketplace. Traditional “hacking” of computers remains prevalent, as is a relatively new form of criminal e-commerce fraud, known as “phishing,” wherein an individual is tricked into revealing personal information, including his or her password. A constant struggle exists between these very costly criminal problems and the subsequent implementation of new security measures, which yields additional costs in itself. The global Internet marketplace is structured such that information related to personal identity matters is under the centralized purview and control of the issuers of financial cards and global e-commerce merchants. This centralized storage of valuable information provides the inclined criminal the necessary enticement to perform the criminal act of e-commerce fraud and theft.
In response, many systems for securing user's data have been developed in an attempt to stymie e-commerce fraud and theft. Generally, these systems involve varied validation processes, which occur over the Internet, that are intended to ensure the user's identity. The most generic of such validation processes is the username/password system, which requires the user to provide a predetermined username and password coupling before being granted access to the particular website. More advanced validation processes relying on certain biometric characteristics such as voice analysis, fingerprint scanning, and DNA analysis have been further implemented.
Each of these validation processes have two particular commonalities, however, which impede the pursuit for a safe and secure global Internet marketplace. First, where the user makes a purchase in the global Internet marketplace, the user provides information linked to a traditional financial card, such as a credit card or debit card, the data from which can be used to make any number of fraudulent purchases at any given place and time, whether on the internet or over the telephone. And second, the data used to validate each individual user is secured in a centralized location, which must be accessed over the Internet. Such a centralized security location, regardless of the measures being taken to secure the information, provokes the criminal act of e-commerce fraud and theft.
The primary and pivotal enabler for much of the electronic-based crimes remains the basic technological incompatibilities between the traditional financial card systems and Internet e-commerce systems. Therefore, related criminal activities cannot be readily and cost-effectively resolved without a fundamental paradigm shift for an enhanced secure global Internet marketplace.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a more secure system and method of conducting e-commerce Internet business operations, in which an interactive Internet-unique financial card system is utilized, wherein each such financial card is de-coupled from the traditional standards and specifications, and further designed for fully secured integration with adapted computers and the like, including various desktops and laptops employing telephonic, cabled, and wireless interconnection within the global computer network. Rather than altering the framework of Internet e-commerce business systems to be more securely compatible with the traditional financial card system, the system and method herein employ the utility of Internet-unique financial cards and an operational system that are adapted for use within the established framework of current Internet e-commerce transactions for the purpose of significantly reducing e-commerce fraud and theft.